Earthcare space laser to be self-funding by 2016

To offset the 30% rise in costs of Europe’s Earthcare laser satellite new commercial uses are being considered. Dr Volker Liebig (real name - honest!), Esa's director of Earth observation says that the laser, initially designed to study clouds and atmospheric particles, will be renamed “Europe’s Healthcare Laser” and will be adapted to carry out minor surgery. Corrective eye surgery and the removal of unsightly hairs could be done from space he suggests but added, “By the time of the launch in 2016 we are hoping that technology will have given us the solution to the problem of keeping the patient very, very still.”